Persons as Plants: Ecopsychology and the return to the Dream of Nature

Authors

Monica Gagliano, University of Western Australia

Abstract

Abstract. In this article, I examine human-plant perceptions and interactions in terms of developing a new perspective on the perception and the actions of people towards plants. By combining my scientific understanding of the biological world and my own experiences working with plant shamans, storytellers and mystics from around the world, I engage with the idea that the hierarchical structure by which Western science defines the variety of life forms as ‘primitive’ or ‘more evolved’ is at the root of the current environmental crisis and I argue that the solution to it rests in a change of this very perspective.

Author Biography

Monica Gagliano

Dr Monica Gagliano is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Evolutionary Biology | School of Animal Biology & Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis at the University of Western Australia.

Recommended Citation

Gagliano, M. (2013). Persons as Plants: Ecopsychology and the return to the Dream of Nature. Landscapes: the Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language, 5(2).
Retrieved from https://ro.ecu.edu.au/landscapes/vol5/iss2/14